Drinks With Friends

Today after work I went into the city to meet up with friends at the usual hang out for some drinks and to catch up. I haven’t been out in a few weeks so it was good to see everyone. I didn’t stay out too late and I am happy with my 3 drinks I had.

Work overall was ok today. Nothing major to report. I had hoped to finish meetings earlier than I did but that happens a lot on fridays. Starts off looking decent and then things just happen. I can’t complain though. A good day generally.

Belgian Food Day

Today at lunch one of the PM’s I am friendly with wanted to goto this Belgian pub. Another PM and I tagged along. This place was supposed to have fantastic burgers. Two of us ended up with fish and chips, but the other guy said the burger was really good. We will be back to try other stuff. The place was good. On the way back to the office we took a detour and hit a popular Belgian waffle truck that only is near the office on Thursday’s. The long line was worth it. I had this place a few times and it was really good. Another guy had heard about it and was the one who recommended to go since it was nearby. Well nearby is relative. Not sure when we will make that walk again, but since it was nice out today it was a good desert to our lunch.

Back in NYC

As much fun as I had in St Louis I was glad to be back in NYC today. I wasn’t glad to be in the office at 9AM after getting home near 12:30AM. I had a 9AM conference call and then I had some face to face meetings so I couldn’t work from home. I also had to race out to a working lunch at the hard rock right by work. I don’t’ normally do those so it was a change of pace.

Overall a really productive and hectic day. I was so glad to get home and just relax after work.

St Louis Day 3

I am on my way home from St. Louis now. I got a bit delayed getting out, but thankfully it wasn’t more than an hour. A bunch of us got a ride to the airport from the one person from NYC who had a rental car and was leaving today. I was on a different airline than everyone else so I couldn’t hang out with anyone else. They were in a different terminal. I hit the Chillis Too for dinner and then went to the American club before the flight. Flight Tracker and the FAA weather app’s on my iphone were invaluable for this trip. Both kept me better informed than the airline was.

Other eventful things today was we went out as a large group to Mongolian BBQ. I was skeptical about it but overall the food was pretty good and there was plenty for me to eat so I was happy.

St Louis Day 2

Day two of the conference was good. We got a lot done. I did my big presentation. I think it went well. After work I was going to avoid the team dinner since I was really tired, but I got strong armed by two guys on my team and another guy who we work with and I ended up going with them to the shooting range. One of the guys from NY really wanted to do that so 4 of us went.

It was a lot of fun. I got to shoot an AK-47 and an AR-15 for the first time. I also tried a really big revolver like the Dirty Harry gun. I didn’t like that. After that we went to dinner at this place that had fantastic burgers. Thankfully I was back at the hotel at a reasonable time. I was still glad I didn’t goto the other event since they were out much later.

Overall a really good day.

St Louis Day 1

The first day of the conference went well. I also got to spend some time with my team that is in St Louis. For dinner another team manager was in and most of her US staff with her so we ended up combining our team dinners and had one big get together. We work closely with each other so it was nice to get out of the office for a bit. We almost never do this so it was a lot of fun. One of our head architects was also in town so he came along. All in all it was like 9 people. We went to a decent steakhouse that several people have been to before. Compared to NY it was super cheap and tasty!

The night wasn’t too late since we all had to be at work at normal hours. Overall it was a great first day in St. Louis!

Off to St. Louis

I am on my way to St Louis for a few days. It is a work trip. There is two events going on there this week. My team is involved in both, but I personally am in a conference. A few other people from NY including another person on my team is going.

Thankfully getting out of NYC was uneventful. My other teammate picked me up at the airport. he got a rental car and i didn’t since i didn’t think it was worth the expense. We went to Friday’s for dinner and ended up meeting up with one other person who is in town for the week.

Mediocre Friday

Today was one of those days that didn’t suck, but was just a general bla day. It was only partly related to the weather. It started out with promise (like all days i guess) but went downhill quickly. Work wasn’t horrible but was just a stressful day that was full of working issues that shouldn’t have been issues. That is all I really will say but it was just a frustrating day. Thankfully these days are in the minority.

The evening was also a general let down. On top of that it was freezing, and I had to navigate the large amount of snow. I am looking forward for the weekend, even if I am traveling on Sunday.

6+ Hours of Work on a Sunday

An issue at work tore me away from my relaxing today. I had to work on an issue from like 5:30 to almost 11:30PM today. It was not fun but in the end everything is ok. I just can’t stand when a weekend is interrupted like that. I know it goes with the job, but I still can get upset by it. Now I resume my regularly scheduled 3 day weekend.

Back To Work

It is back to work after a very light December. I had more time off in December than I worked. That is what I get for not using my vacation before the end of the year. it was nice to relax and travel, but this year I plan on using the time more wisely. I am anticipating a ton of catching up to do but a brief glance at my black berry says I don’t have too bad an amount of email to go through. I think the physiological impact of being back at work will be tougher than the catching up.